Device for feeding and folding box blanks



c. J. PIERCE, JR 3,052,165

DEVICE FOR FEEDING AND FOLDING BOX BLANKS 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 4, 1962 Filed Jan. 9, 1961 INVENTOR. Chas/er J Pierce, Jr.

BY Y W :3 M

ATTUR/Vi'y P 4, 1962 c. J. PIERCE, JR 3,052,165

DEVICE FOR FEEDING AND FOLDING BOX BLANKS Filed Jan. 9, 1961 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. C/z eszer J. Pierce, Jr.

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A TTORNEY Sept. 4, 1962 c. J. PIERCE, JR 3,052,165

DEVICE FOR FEEDING AND FOLDING BOX BLANKS Filed Jan. 9, 1961 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. Chem er J. Pierce, Jn

Sept. 4, 1962 c. J. PIERCE, JR

DEVICE FOR FEEDING AND FOLDING BOX BLANKS 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. 9, 1961 INVENTOR. Chesler J. Pierce, Jr.

' A TTORNEY Sept. 4, 1962 c. J. PIERCE, JR

DEVICE FOR FEEDING AND FOLDING BOX BLANKS 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 9, 1961 IN VEN TOR. C'fzesfer .1 Pierc'e, Jr.

A TTOR/VEY Sept. 4, 1962 c. J. PIERCE, JR 3,052,165

DEVICE FOR FEEDING AND FOLDING BOX BLANKS Filed Jan. 9, 1961 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR. Cheszer J. P'z'qr cg J;

" ATTORNEY P 1962 c. J. PIERCE, JR 3,052,165

DEVICE FOR FEEDING AND FOLDING BOX BLANKS Filed Jan. 9, 1961 8 Sheets-Sheet '7 INVENTOR. Chesfer J. Pierce, J1;

A TTORNEY Sept. 4, 1962 Filed Jan. 9, 1961 C. J. PIERCE, JR

DEVICE FOR FEEDING AND FOLDING BOX BLANKS 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 INVENTOR. Chesfer .1. Pierce, Jr.

ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiice 3,952,165 Patented Sept. 4, 1962 3,052,165 DEVECE FQR FEEDING AND FGLDING BOX BLANKS Chester J. Pierce, Jr., Palo Alto, Calif, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Atlas General Industries, Inc, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Jan. 9, 1961, Ser. No. 81,368 5 Claims. (Cl. 93-49) This invention relates to machines for shaping box blanks into box form and may be considered an improvement of machines of the type which expand flat collapsed tubular box blanks into hollow sleeve shape prior to filling of the box with merchandise. The invention may also be regarded as an improvement of machines in which box blanks are fed from a magazine of fiat box blanks by suction cups of a feeder mechanism prior to, or in connection with, shaping operations performed on the box blank. The blank need not necessarily be of the tubular style but may have other forms.

It has been proposed to square collapsed tubular box blanks by inserting them into an end pocket of an endless conveyor. Conveyor pockets are usually formed by lugs on the conveyor chain or chains, and these pockets expand at the two return points where the conveyor runs over terminal pulleys or sprocket gears. The subsequent contraction of the conveyor pocket has been used for squaring tubular box blanks.

Several disadvantages are inherent in this procedure. Firstly, the expanded box is rarely accurately square since, due to fold resistance of paperboard at fold lines, the box must temporarily be over-squared, i.e., folded beyond the position in which the box walls form right angles, if it is to remain accurately square thereafter. Secondly, the conveyor must be unduly long when a portion of its length is used to square the box. This leads to the need for additional floor space for the machine. Thirdly, the procedure can only be used if the box is fed into the conveyor at one end of the conveyor, not in-between the ends.

According to the invention the blank feeder is fitted with a mechanism for performing a folding operation on the blank while the blank is being held by the suction cups and is in transit between a blank removal station, such as the withdrawal gate of a blank magazine, and a deposit station, which may be a conveyor pocket or some other place of the folding and filling machine.

The invention produces perfectly squared boxes, as it permits temporary oversquaring, and is not limited to the handling of tubular blanks, but is also useful for folding portions of non-tubular blanks such as box space dividers, platform structures and the like.

The various objects, features and advantages of this invention will appear more fully from the detailed description which follows accompanied by drawings showing, for the purpose of illustration, a preferred embodiment of the invention. The invention also resides in certain new and original features of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and claimed.

Although the characteristic features of this invention which are believed to be novel will be particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto, the invention itself, its objects and advantages, and the manner in which it may be carried out may be better understood by referring to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of it in which:

FIGS. 1 to 7 are perspective front views of a mechanism for feeding and squaring tubular box blanks and delivering the squared structures in the pockets of the conveyor, the mechanism being shown in successive stages of operation; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective View of a portion of the mechanism viewed from the rear of the machine.

ln the following description and in the claims various details will be identified by specific names for convenience. The names, however, are intended to be generic in their application. Corresponding reference characters refer to corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings.

The drawings accompanying, and forming part of, this specification disclose certain specific details of the invention for the purpose of explanation of its broader aspects, but it is understood that the details may be modified in various respects without departure from the principles of the invention, and that the invention may be embodied in other forms than shown.

Referring to the drawings illustrating that portion of a blank squaring and conveyor mechanism necessary for an understanding of this invention, FIG. 1 shows a stack 11 of blanks B held between rods 12 extending between a magazine withdrawal gate 13 and a magazine rear plate 14. Lips 15 on the magazine gate marginally overlie the foremost blank and prevent it from falling out. The degree of overlap of the lips with respect to the blank is quite small, so that slight flexing of the blank will free it.

A blank feeder comprises suction cups 16 on a plate 17 on which protruding studs 18 are also mounted for flexing a withdrawn blank upon retraction of the suction cups in a manner described in detail in the United States Patent No. 3,008,384, to Chester J. Pierce, Jr., dated November 14, 1961. The flexing operation will be briefly described hereinafter and its elfect is shown in FIG. 5.

The plate 17 is mounted on a transverse feeder bar 19 offset at 20 and secured to the short end 21 of a pair of double armed levers 22. The levers 22 and certain other elements about to be described are arranged in pairs on either side of the machine. The elements. on the right are identical with those on the left, except that one is the mirror image of the other.

The double armed lever 22 is pivotally mounted at 23 to a bell crank lever 24 and its long end 25 is fitted with parallel plates 26 forming a track for a roller 27.

The roller 27 is carried on one arm 28 of an angle lever 29 pivotally mounted on the machine frame 30 at 31. The other arm 32 of the angle lever 29 has a push rod 33 connected to it which, when moved back and forth, causes the roller to move on an arc about the pivot 31. It is thus readily seen that the point of engagement between the roller 27 and the track 26 may change in that the track may slide back and forth relatively to the roller while at the same time the roller may swing on an are about the axis of pivot 31.

The bell crank lever 24 is pivotally mounted on the machine frame 3% at 34 and has a short arm 35 from which a push rod 36 extends. In the position shown in FIG. 1 the push rod 36 is in its uppermost position. If retracted it will swing the bell crank lever through an angle of about degrees towards the observer into a position in which its long arm 37 and pivot 23 is approximately horizontal (FIG. 6).

The bell crank lever 24 on the right also carries an arcuate cam track 38 on studs 39.

An angular shaft 49 carries a roller 41 which runs on the cam track 38. The shaft 40 extends thruogh a bearing 42 clamped to the transverse bar 19' at 43. The end of the shaft 49 remote from the roller carries an arm 44 from which a push rod 45 extends to an arm 46 on a tilt shaft 47. The tilt shaft 47 is pivotally mounted in arms 48 of a bracket 49 secured to the feeder bar 19.

The tilt shaft carries folding arms 50* adapted to engage and fold a blank held by the suction cups 16. In the position shown in FIG. 1 the folding arms 50 are swung clear of the foremost blank B about to be grasped by the suction cups 16.

Particulars of the geometry of the above described feeder mechanism form the subject matter of, and are described in, the patent to Lefief, No. 2,805,060, dated September 3, 1957.

A conveyor extends in front of the feeding and folding mechanism. It comprises four parallel chains arranged in pairs of two and driven at the same rate of speed. Each chain carries lugs which extend upwardly and form conveyor pockets. One pair of leading lugs 51 and '52 carried by the outer pair of chains lies in advance of the squared carton blank C, and another pair of trailing lugs 53, 54 carried by the inner pair of chains lie in back of the carton C. The chains proper are better visible in FIG. 2, the outer pair of chains being 55, 56 and the inner pair of chains being 57 and 58.

It is readily seen that the length of the conveyor pockets may be adjusted by advancing one pair of chains with respect to the other. For this purpose the terminal sprocket gears on a drive shaft 5 around which the chains are trained may be temporarily loosened with respect to one another, whereafter they are clamped together. The shaft 59 is geared to a crank mechanism (not shown) which operates the push rods 36 of the feeder. Details of the crank mechanism are disclosed in the above mentioned Lefief Patent No. 2,805,060 and need not be described here. Suffice it to say that the conveyor advance is timed with respect to the feeder operation which will now be described.

In the position shown in FIG. 1 the suction cups have almost reached the blank B. Vacuum is applied to all four cups through a flexible duct 60 leading to a suitable vacuum pump (not shown). As the transverse feeder bar 19 reaches the end of its stroke, the cups grasp the blank B and immediately thereafter a rubber bellows just above each cup contracts and causes the blank to be pulled out of the grasp of the lips at the magazine gate. The rubber bellows 61 are best seen in FIG. 5 in contracted position and in FIG. 6 in normal extended position. As further seen by comparing FIGS. 5 and 6, the suction cups 16 lie slightly above the end of the stud 18 when the cups are retracted, thereby bowing the blank (FIG. 5 whereas the cups 16 lie beyond the end of the stud 18 when the cups 16 are extended (FIG. 6).

The bowing of the blank insures proper squaring of the tubular blank which could not be accomplished if the blank accidentally had a curvature in a direction at right angles to the stud-enforced curvature as such flexing would interfere with the folding of the blank along the longitudinal fold lines.

FIG. 2 shows the blank after withdrawal from the stack of blanks. During the initial phase the feeder bar 19 performs predominantly a translatory motion towards the observer, as a result of which the long end 25 of the double armed lever 22 advances with respect to the rollers 27. In the position shown in FIG. 2 the feeder bar has begun to swing downwardly as a result of a forward tilt imparted to the bell crank levers 24' by their push rods 36. This also causes the roller 41 to ride up on the cam track 38 and the folding arms 50 to move against the right edge of the blank B.

FIG. 3 shows the blank B after engagement by the folding arms as a result of which the originally fiat collapsed tubular blank begins to open.

In FIG. 4 the feeder mechanism is shown in a position past the halfway mark. At this point the arms 50 have reached their extreme position in which the blank side walls have moved slightly beyond the 90 degree position with respect to the top and bottom walls. Both top and bottom walls are arched as the suction cups 16 have retracted to a position above the ends of the studs 18 between them.

In the position shown in FIG. 5 the swinging motion of the feeder has ended, the double armed levers 22 are nearly vertical but still retracted, as can be seen by comparing the position of the track 26 with respect to the rollers 27. The feeder bar is approximately centered above the conveyor and is about to be lowered to deposit the squared blank C into the next conveyor pocket whose leading lugs 62, 63 are in position while the trailing lugs have not yet appeared. The folding arms 50 have begun to retract as a result of which the blank C is nearly square. At this moment the bell crank levers 24 have not yet reached the end of their rotation about pivots 34 and continue to rotate farther into the position shown in FIG. 6 in which the levers 22 move downwardly, the bar 19 approaches the conveyor and the blank is deposited into the next conveyor pocket. The vacuum is relieved, the vacuum duct is vented to the atmosphere and the blank C drops into the conveyor aided, in part, by the expanding bellows 61. At this moment the folding arms 50 are retracted so as not to interfere with the release of the squared blank, which is now a box ready for filling.

The rollers '27 now engage the tracks 26 at the end. Trailing lugs 64, 65 move up from behind the box which moves under a rail 66 retaining it in the conveyor. FIG. 7 shows the empty feeder at about the halfway point of its return stroke viewed from the front of the machine, as were FIGS. 1 to 6.

FIG. 8 shows the feeder and the cam mechanism as seen from the rear of the machine. The vent valve 66 controlling the vacuum line is shown vented to the atmosphere, as previously mentioned. It carries a blade 67 acted upon by two stops 68 and 69 on the bell crank lever 24, the stop 68 being the next to strike the blade 67 tilting it down, thereby closing the valve port 70 and bringing it into communication with the vacuum line 71.

Obviously more than one cam controlled folding mechanism may be provided, for example for folding different flaps, walls or panels of a blank in different directions.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine for feeding and squaring collapsed tubular box blanks, the machine comprising, in combination, a base; a pair of spaced first levers mounted on said base for pivoting about a first axis; spaced second double armed levers mounted on said first levers for pivoting about a second axis substantially parallel to, and spaced from said first axis, said second levers pivotally and slidably engaging said base with one arm; a transverse bar extending between and secured to the other arm of said second levers and constituting an assembly with said second levers; a suction cup mounted on said bar; a magazine for storing flat collapsed tubular box blanks; power means for oscillating said first levers to move said suction cup between said magazine and a deposit station; a movable element mounted on said assembly with freedom to engage and displace one portion of a blank grasped by said cup with respect to the cup held portion of the blank; a cam track member mounted on a first lever; a cam follower mounted on said assembly, said follower being connected to said element to move said element into and out of engagement with a cup held blank; and means timed with said power means for alternately applying vacuum to said cup and relieving said vacuum, respectively.

2. A device for feeding and simultaneously squaring tubular box blanks which comprise four parallel main body fold lines along two of which the blank is collapsed flat by degree folding, the blank being non-folded along the other two main fold lines which alternate with the collapsing fold lines, the device comprising, in combination, a magabine for storing said blanks; a movable support; suction cup means mounted on said support for grasping said blank; means on said carrier for bearing against, and bowing a cup grasped blank, the axis of curvature being substantially parallel to the main fold lines of the grasped blank; means for moving said support between said magazine and a deposit station; means timed with said moving means for alternately applying vacuum to said cup and relieving vacuum, respectively; a movable element on said support for engaging a cup grasped and bowed blank at a collapsing fold line to displace the engaged blank portion into squared position with respect to the cup grasped blank portion, the arrangement being such that one of said other fold lines lies on the concave side of the blank between the cup grasped portion and the engaged collapsing fold line; and means timed with said moving means for actuating said element during travel of said support from said magazine to said station.

3. A device for feeding and simultaneously squaring tubular box blanks which comprise four parallel main body fold lines along two of which the blank is collapsed flat by 180 degree folding, the blank being non-folded along the other two main fold lines which alternate with the collapsing fold lines, the device comprising, in combination, a magazine for storing said blanks; a movable support; suction cup means mounted on said support for grasping said blank; means on said carrier for bearing against, and bowing a cup grasped blank, the axis of curvature being substantially parallel to the main fold lines of the grasped blank; means for moving said support between said magazine and a deposit station; means timed with said moving means for alternately applying vacuum to said cup and relieving vacuum, respectively; a movable element on said support for engaging a cup grasped and bowed blank at a collapsing fold line to displace the engaged blank portion into squared position with respect to the cup grasped blank portion, the arrangement being such that one of said other fold lines lies on the concave side of the blank between the cup grasped portion and the engaged collapsing fold line; and a cam actuator for actuating said element during travel of said support from said magazine to said station, said cam actuator comprising a cam track member and a cam follower member, one of said members being mounted on said support, the other member being mounted on a portion of said device relatively to which the support moves.

4. A device as set forth in the preceding claim 3 in which the cam track member has three portions, a first cam portion within which said movable element is retracted,

said first cam portion being engaged by the follower when the support is at the magazine, a second cam portion within which said element engages and displaces said one portion of the blank, and a third cam portion within which said element is retracted from said blank, said third cam portion being engaged by said follower when the support is at the deposit station.

5. A device for feeding and simultaneously squaring tubular box blanks collapsed -flat along two parallel collapsing body fold lines alternating with two further body fold lines along which the collapsed blank is substantially fiat, the device comprising, in combination, a magazine for storing flat collapsed tubular box blanks; a movable support; a pair of projectable and retractable suction cups mounted on said support including means for retracting said suction cups upon application of vacuum thereto; a blank engaging member between said cups extending to a position short of the plane of the cups when extended and beyond the plane of the cups when retracted to bow the blank grasped by the cups about an axis of curvature substantially parallel to said body fold lines; means for moving said support between said magazine and a deposit station; means timed with said moving means for alternately applying vacuum to said cup and relieving vacuum, respectively; a movable element on said support for engaging a cup grasped and bowed blank at a collapsing fold line to displace the engaged blank portion into squared position with respect to the cup grasped blank portion, the arrangement being such that one of said further fold lines lies on the concave side of the blank between the cup grasped portion and the engaged collapsing fold line; and means timed with said moving means for actuating said element during travel of said support from said magazine to said station.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

